c.2012 Martin Custom Size 5 Terz Guitar

This little beauty came by way of a customer of mine and (if I don't make a deal with him myself) should be up for sale pretty soon on consignment. It's an as-new 2012 Martin size 5 (these are sometimes called "mini Martins") instrument with a terz guitar scale length (short 21 1/2"). This is a custom variant and is visually a lot like a Sting model Martin terz guitar though the fretboard and bridge are ebony, the back and sides are morado, the top is cedar, and the bindings are all rosewood. It's a classy little act and even features a paua rosette and herringbone purfling.

It came in today and the only tweaking I did was to intonate the B string at the saddle and set it up with a set of medium strings for standard (E to E) tuning. With a set of lights (11s or 12s) one can get up to regular pitch for this instrument (a minor third above E to E at G to G) and with a set of 10s a fellow can play this in "quart" tuning or A to A (ADGCEA low to high) which is perfect for a uke player moving over to guitar stylings.

Some folks will also use a guitar like this for a variety of "Nashville" style tunings (with re-entrant strings) to make use of its bright, chipper character for recording work.

The condition of this instrument is as flawless as it gets for a used instrument. This thing looks like it came out of the factory shipping box just yesterday and was just put on the store's wall hanger in the morning.

Bone nut, nice headstock veneer and classy silvery Martin logo. The tuners are Waverly types -- yup.

Classy diamond inlays. There's zero fret wear.

Herringbone trim, paua rosette... what else?

Tortoise-dot pins in a glued straight-bone-saddle vintage-style bridge.

I think cedar was a lovely choice for this instrument as it's naturally warm and sweet and even at standard pitch this instrument has a remarkably good (but tight) bass response for its size. Speaking of size -- this is like an outsized baritone ukulele overall.

Fancy gloss finish... plus rosewood trims next to morado... pretty slick. It just talks "old" even though it's new.

Did I mention the diamond volute?

The original plush, domed-top Martin case keeps this little Napoleon nice and snug.